Did you see the media coverage about the MLK Memorial? This is an example of word play working really well in a timely headline. And the story also underscores the importance of properly capturing and attributing quotes to the source. In email, social media, or ezines, changing a headline is as easy as hitting the “delete” key. When messages are carved in stone, it's a horse of a different color. The stone artist paraphrased one of Dr. King's quotes in a way that didn't portray him well. Poet Maya Angelou said, “The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit. He was anything but that. He was far too profound a man for that four-letter word to apply.” Whatever we do — as bloggers, newspaper columnists, speakers, ezine publishers, or monument carvers– the lesson is this. Get the words right because they will take on lives of their own with thanks to sassy headlines that turn heads and start conversations around the nation or even around the world.
